Two Weistec supercharged CLK63's go to Vegas in 100+ degree temps and come back with a pair of 10's in 5000+ density altitude

This past weekend BenzBoost members ecampbell and jrcart went for a test and tune at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway dragstrip. BenzBoost was in attendance thanks to a generous invitation from ecampbell and Weistec was also present with Steve Atneyel and Michael Weiss. We were a bit a surprised that Earl (ecampbell) and Jim (jrcart) wanted to run in the middle of the summer with insanely hot temps in Vegas. When driving in, the temperature readout in our car showed 108 degrees at 6:15 PM. Not exactly weather for setting records.

Despite what was incredibly hot weather the cars put down some incredible numbers for the conditions. What was also surprising was just how close the cars performed to one another. They were virtually identical. To have two CLK63 Black Series cars both running 10's at the same time was quite the sight to behold. Apparently others felt the same way as despite Jim and Earl both having their pit area away from the track crowds would gather to find out exactly why these cars were running 10's when everyone else was so far off. To put it in perspective, a new Mustang GT was running 13.4@104 when the car is normally capable of 12's at around 110 mph. The weather was sucking about a half second and 6 mph, conservatively.

If anyone would like to verify the temps or density altitude, that can all be found here. At the time of the first run, which was 11 flat by Earl, the density altitude was 5136 feet. 96 degrees at night with a DA of over 5000. What else is there to say about the conditions? Well, how about no burn box or VHT? It should be clear that this was not the time for record passes yet somehow consistent 10 second runs were produced by both vehicles.

The mod list on the cars is basically the same. Both have Stage 2 M156 supercharger systems from Weistec Engineering. Race gas and slicks were used on both cars. Both have ice reservoir systems in the trunk for cooling the water/air intercooler. Both have aftermarket exhaust systems featuring aftermarket headers. The silver car (jrcart's) has some weight reduction done to it along with suspension work for better weight transfer. It also has a roll cage. The black car (ecampbell's) is full weight stock suspension. The black car actually managed better 60 foots throughout the night than the silver car. Not sure what the reason for this is but both cars were doing 1.6 60 foots consistently later on in the night.

What is also important to note is the driver of the black car, Earl, was at the strip for the first time with this car. How he managed to do so well we have no idea but his reaction time was quick and his launches were also impressive. Jim (jrcart) spent a lot of time helping Earl as well instead of focusing on himself which is commendable. The pro-tree was also a bit of an adjustment for both parties as it definitely is more difficult.

From an observer's perspective what I can conclude with is this. The weather was ridiculously hot, that much is clear. Vegas in the summer is not MIR in the winter. Nobody goes to a desert to drag race when it is at its hottest point, except these guys. Frankly, I thought they were crazy as I never even thought they could hit 10's in that weather. They did, both of them, consistently. The cars opened the eyes of everyone there. People were not even sure how to react. I'm not sure if I knew either as they were so far beyond pretty much everything else there.

We would like to thank Earl in particular for inviting myself and my friend out to Vegas. Earl was and is a complete class act. We would also like to thank Jim for allowing us to hang out in his cabana at the Hard Rock the next day which was very enjoyable. We would like to also thank the makers of Alka-Seltzer for making our hangovers more manageable. The thought of drag racing in the summer in Vegas was never something I considered before or something that could produce great results but these guys managed to do it in stunning fashion. A pair of 10's in 5000+ DA, well done and congratulations (and thanks!) to you both.

Absolutely fantastic runs by both drivers :bow-blue congrats guys Thank you both for sharing your results with us; I'm sure many car enthusiasts appreciate all the data and research you guys have provided to help advance this platform further. It should be very clear now that Weistec has built a very solid product with very repeatable results. I can't wait to see you guys run in cooler weather. You should've stopped by Famoso Raceway on the way to Vegas.... temps were 85 F and DA of 2200 ft (less than half what it was in Vegas) and track had better prep. I think you guys would've dipped into the 10.6x and would've captured the all time record in the heat of the summer

Absolutely fantastic runs by both drivers :bow-blue congrats guys Thank you both for sharing your results with us; I'm sure many car enthusiasts appreciate all the data and research you guys have provided to help advance this platform further. It should be very clear now that Weistec has built a very solid product with very repeatable results. I can't wait to see you guys run in cooler weather. You should've stopped by Famoso Raceway on the way to Vegas.... temps were 85 F and DA of 2200 ft (less than half what it was in Vegas) and track had better prep. I think you guys would've dipped into the 10.6x and would've captured the all time record in the heat of the summer

By the way, does Earl's car have SLS cams and ported heads as well?

Mo, neither car is running SLS cams, we removed the SLS cams from my car and went back to stock, they seemed to worked better with the SC package so we swapped them back last month.

Absolutely fantastic runs by both drivers :bow-blue congrats guys Thank you both for sharing your results with us; I'm sure many car enthusiasts appreciate all the data and research you guys have provided to help advance this platform further. It should be very clear now that Weistec has built a very solid product with very repeatable results. I can't wait to see you guys run in cooler weather. You should've stopped by Famoso Raceway on the way to Vegas.... temps were 85 F and DA of 2200 ft (less than half what it was in Vegas) and track had better prep. I think you guys would've dipped into the 10.6x and would've captured the all time record in the heat of the summer

By the way, does Earl's car have SLS cams and ported heads as well?

Mo, neither car is running SLS cams, we removed the SLS cams from my car and went back to stock, they seemed to worked better with the SC package so we swapped them back last month.

Outstanding runs, gentlemen. Question though:It's been stated that track prep was horrible, with no VHT, and no water box. However, in the posted video, I don't hear any tire spin on launch from either car. Both the spectator view, and the on-board cameras appear to show both cars dead-hooking on launch. The time slips also show both cars with 1.6x 60' times, which is good. So my question is, why was the track prep considered horrible? All you can ask for is to dead-hook, and it appears you certainly were able to do that. Jim, what does your car normally 60' at? Much better than the 1.6x shown here? Now, of course with cooler charge air, comes more HP. With more HP, comes harder launches. With harder launches, comes better 60' times. With better 60' times, comes better ETs. And with better ETs, comes more beer at the end of the day. As everyone else, I can't wait to see what these cars run this Fall.There's also the time tested formula of .10 better at the 60', means .20 off the 1/4 ET. Of course it's not exact, but close. If you guys can get down to 1.5x, you're probably gonna see 10.7x at the big end.Congrats on the run, I can only imagine the spectacle it caused.

Outstanding runs, gentlemen. Question though:It's been stated that track prep was horrible, with no VHT, and no water box. However, in the posted video, I don't hear any tire spin on launch from either car. Both the spectator view, and the on-board cameras appear to show both cars dead-hooking on launch. The time slips also show both cars with 1.6x 60' times, which is good. So my question is, why was the track prep considered horrible? All you can ask for is to dead-hook, and it appears you certainly were able to do that. Jim, what does your car normally 60' at? Much better than the 1.6x shown here? Now, of course with cooler charge air, comes more HP. With more HP, comes harder launches. With harder launches, comes better 60' times. With better 60' times, comes better ETs. And with better ETs, comes more beer at the end of the day. As everyone else, I can't wait to see what these cars run this Fall.There's also the time tested formula of .10 better at the 60', means .20 off the 1/4 ET. Of course it's not exact, but close. If you guys can get down to 1.5x, you're probably gonna see 10.7x at the big end.Congrats on the run, I can only imagine the spectacle it caused.

You answered your own question, I was putting down pretty consistant 1.5X 60 ft's with my old MT Street E/T's on tracks with much better prep. At Vegas I had to back down approx 200rpm on the brake stall to not get tires loose.

Outstanding runs, gentlemen. Question though:It's been stated that track prep was horrible, with no VHT, and no water box. However, in the posted video, I don't hear any tire spin on launch from either car. Both the spectator view, and the on-board cameras appear to show both cars dead-hooking on launch. The time slips also show both cars with 1.6x 60' times, which is good. So my question is, why was the track prep considered horrible? All you can ask for is to dead-hook, and it appears you certainly were able to do that. Jim, what does your car normally 60' at? Much better than the 1.6x shown here? Now, of course with cooler charge air, comes more HP. With more HP, comes harder launches. With harder launches, comes better 60' times. With better 60' times, comes better ETs. And with better ETs, comes more beer at the end of the day. As everyone else, I can't wait to see what these cars run this Fall.There's also the time tested formula of .10 better at the 60', means .20 off the 1/4 ET. Of course it's not exact, but close. If you guys can get down to 1.5x, you're probably gonna see 10.7x at the big end.Congrats on the run, I can only imagine the spectacle it caused.

If you consider having to launch at a lower rpm and feather slightly out of the hole because of no VHT, and having inconsistent burnouts (me) because of no water in the box good prep than I guess it was ok.

We are not looking to be at 10.7 as we are already there or even less at a track with lower DA. My magic number has a 9 as a starting point.

You answered your own question, I was putting down pretty consistant 1.5X 60 ft's with my old MT Street E/T's on tracks with much better prep. At Vegas I had to back down approx 200rpm on the brake stall to not get tires loose.

Got it. So you guys had other runs, not on video, where you broke loose when you loaded up the converter more. Makes sense....

Originally Posted by ecampbell

If you consider having to launch at a lower rpm and feather slightly out of the hole because of no VHT, and having inconsistent burnouts (me) because of no water in the box good prep than I guess it was ok.

We are not looking to be at 10.7 as we are already there or even less at a track with lower DA. My magic number has a 9 as a starting point.

Well, I didn't exactly say you guys had good prep. I just said that in the video, you dead-hooked, and it's hard to ask for more than that. But sure, if you were only hooking because you were babying it out of the hole, sure. But your 1.6x 60' would say otherwise. Takes a pretty good launch, to get into the 1.6x and below.

To get into the 9's with your current setup, is probably a bit optimistic. Are you planning more mods to get into the 9's?

Got it. So you guys had other runs, not on video, where you broke loose when you loaded up the converter more. Makes sense....

To get into the 9's with your current setup, is probably a bit optimistic. Are you planning more mods to get into the 9's?

9's with the current set-up might be ever so slightly optimistic, but these are low 10 second cars the way they sit on a well prepped track in a location like MIR or Atco on a -2000 DA day, anyone that wants to argue that fact is not only a hater but an ignorant hater too. But you kow what they say, coulda, shoulda, woulda...until it happens it's pointless. None of us were expecting 10.anything in Vegas becuase of temps/DA and I ran 4 of them. We were just wanting to use the event to make some passes and make sure the reliability was there with their current state of tune. I have now made about a dozen passes in the car in it's current state of tune and it's running perfectly. Earl drove his car from OC to Vegas in it's current state of tune so I'm pretty sure the reliability is there along with the power.

As for you question about additional mods, I can't speak for Earl but for as long as you have seen me on these boards has my car ever been "finished"? There's still stuff to do on these cars to eek out a few more ponies and winter is just around the corner.

9's with the current set-up might be ever so slightly optimistic, but these are low 10 second cars the way they sit on a well prepped track in a location like MIR or Atco on a -2000 DA day, anyone that wants to argue that fact is not only a hater but an ignorant hater too. But you kow what they say, coulda, shoulda, woulda...until it happens it's pointless. None of us were expecting 10.anything in Vegas becuase of temps/DA and I ran 4 of them. We were just wanting to use the event to make some passes and make sure the reliability was there with their current state of tune. I have now made about a dozen passes in the car in it's current state of tune and it's running perfectly. Earl drove his car from OC to Vegas in it's current state of tune so I'm pretty sure the reliability is there along with the power.

As for you question about additional mods, I can't speak for Earl but for as long as you have seen me on these boards has my car ever been "finished"? There's still stuff to do on these cars to eek out a few more ponies and winter is just around the corner.

Weistec certainly appears to have hit a home run with this offering. I haven't been following these builds as closely as some others have been, but can you remind me what your current best ET and MPH are with the Weistec, and at what DA? And no, I don't think you'll ever be "finished". We never are, are we?

ON an aside....I think you're friggin crazy piloting that car down the track with only 1 hand on the wheel.

Originally Posted by ecampbell

Benz....Thanks for the propsWho said anything about being finished!!!

I give props to anyone that pushes the envelope on these cars. How efffing bad ass is it, that you can take the ole' lady to the opera in one of these cars, then go out after and kick the snot out of almost anything on the road. Amazing.....

Weistec certainly appears to have hit a home run with this offering. I haven't been following these builds as closely as some others have been, but can you remind me what your current best ET and MPH are with the Weistec, and at what DA? And no, I don't think you'll ever be "finished". We never are, are we?

ON an aside....I think you're friggin crazy piloting that car down the track with only 1 hand on the wheel.

About 3 or 4 weeks ago I ran a 10.89 @ 130.29MPH at Fontana, If I recall the DA was +2900ft. The track was prepped at that event a little better but still poor IMO, I was still not putting down any 1.5X 60's at that event either, all high 1.6's and 1.7's. There is a vid and thread of that pass somewhere on this site as well as YouTube.

As for the one hand on the wheel, what can I say, the car tracks straight as an arrow.

Great runs guys. I'm sure with better prep and conditions the record will fall. And big props to Earl for running so well...especially one handed. LOL...that was classic. I literally watched that video and at the end was like, "wait, did he just one hand that all the way down the track ?!!?!?!??!"
Just shows you how stable the CLK BS platform is and how underpowered it is from the factory.

As far as "not being done". What else do you guys have lined up ? I can't imagine you could do any more performance mods ?? Or are you planning on shedding some serious weight ?? I'd think weight savings would pay big dividends at this point for both of you. Again, congrats on some great times in very challenging conditions.

Great runs guys. I'm sure with better prep and conditions the record will fall. And big props to Earl for running so well...especially one handed. LOL...that was classic. I literally watched that video and at the end was like, "wait, did he just one hand that all the way down the track ?!!?!?!??!"
Just shows you how stable the CLK BS platform is and how underpowered it is from the factory.

As far as "not being done". What else do you guys have lined up ? I can't imagine you could do any more performance mods ?? Or are you planning on shedding some serious weight ?? I'd think weight savings would pay big dividends at this point for both of you. Again, congrats on some great times in very challenging conditions.